There’s been some worry that RIM’s next lineup of BlackBerry smartphones wouldn’t make it out the door before the back-to-school rush, but to back up rumours of a mid-August release, the Bold 9900 has recently passed through FCC filing. That’s usually a good sign that we’ll see the device within the next month, although hardly a sure bet. Some documents are dated far back as June 23, but have only been viewable recently due to the usual confidentiality period the FCC grants.
The BlackBerry Bold 9900 was announced at RIM’s annual conference this spring, and is spearheading their new OS 7 platform. It’s a slim device, has a lot of fresh style to it, while still staying within the well-established comfort zone of the BlackBerry faithful. Spec-wise, it will be the first BlackBerry to break the 1 GHz processor mark, and be RIM’s first traditional candybar smartphone with a touchscreen. The display is an impressive 640 x 480 pixels, and though the camera is still sitting at 5 megapixels like its 9780 predecessor, it can now 720p HD video. The real kickers for RIM’s new OS 7 phones will be augmented reality support thanks to a new magnetic compass, an NFC chip to let you tap your phone on in-store sensors to pay for stuff, and mobile Wi-Fi hotspot capabilities.We’ve had some hands-on times on two separate occasions, if you want to take a look.
While the Bold 9900 might not be the sexy revolution that shareholders and high-demand consumers are looking for, it is in line with RIM’s habit of incremental ubdates while staying true to established standards. Boring, maybe, but crucial for not scaring off the fans that BlackBerry still claims. The spec updates are good enough to just put it slightly behind the curve, and the inclusion of near-field communications is a nice level of futureproofing for once those services become more commonplace. Anyone really interested in picking up the next breed of BlackBerrys, or is RIM done?
[via Wireless Goodness]